“Since our first online course was offered in 2006, we have aimed for excellence in online education,” said Dr. Janna Vice, provost. “We are extremely proud of our faculty, staff and students for achieving these honors.”

This is the third year that U.S. News has ranked online programs. The factor given the most weight in the methodology was student engagement, which included the accessibility and responsiveness of instructors and the ability to interact with faculty and classmates.

The 2014 rankings also included program ratings by peer institutions, a factor not included in the previous survey. According to the methodology, “Industry opinion accounts for intangible factors on program quality not captured by statistics.” For example, programs that have earned the respect of academics may also be held in higher regard by employers.

Reviewers also considered faculty credentials, resources for training instructors on distance learning, diversity of online learning technologies and staff support. Graduate programs were also evaluated on admissions selectivity.